BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — Bowling Green State University President Rodney Rogers announced Thursday the expansion of a major scholarship program in the form of the largest donation in university history and the largest single scholarship gift in the state of Ohio's history.
The Thompson Foundation, created by Bob and Ellen Thompson in 2014, will extend its partnership with BGSU through their intent to give a total of $121 million to the Thompson Working Families Scholarship's tenure. According to a press release, the donation comes with the possibility of an additional $30 million, extending the scholarship past 2035.
“When we first created this scholarship program, we wanted to make sure the dollars were put to good use with accountability throughout the entire process," Bob Thompson said in the release. "BGSU has proven this accountability approach works, and we are excited to publicly express our intentions to expand and extend this program into the next decade. Ellen and I are pleased to support BGSU students who have financial need and are willing to work hard at a university that has proven its ability to support them and match these scholarship dollars."
Combined with matching university money and gifts from additional donors, the Thompson Working Families Scholarship is designed to help high-achieving students overcome financial barriers to higher education. Since its inception, 2,200 scholarship recipients, called Thompson Scholars, have received $11,000 each academic year to cover tuition; recipients are required to fulfill certain requirements, including community service hours and maintaining academic progress.
According to the press release, the average Thompson Scholar GPA was 3.59 in the 2022-23 school year. Among the 1,063 students currently enrolled in the program, their cumulative community service hours totaled 26,532.
Rising Senior and Thompson Scholar, Julianne Bailey says the value of the scholarship is immeasurable. "Honestly, it's one of the biggest achievements of my life to be able to graduate in general, but also with minimal loans," Bailey said. "There's no words I can say for what it means to me."
By 2035, the Thompson scholarship will have created nearly a quarter of a billion dollars in scholarships, BGSU said. It will also represent one of the nation's largest non-endowed scholarship programs. Its renewal will reach an anticipated additional 4,000 students.
"The impact of this gift is immeasurable, and we are incredibly grateful for the Thompsons' continued confidence in BGSU and our students," BGSU President Rodney K. Rogers said in the press release. "Throughout the past 10 years, we have worked diligently with the Thompson Foundation to pressure-test and grow this first-of-its-kind public-private partnership aimed at accountability in achieving student success. This is absolutely an innovative concept of philanthropy based on outcomes, with all parties – BGSU, the individual student and the Thompson Foundation – having a shared responsibility in achieving success.”
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